Volume 1: Problems in the Literary Source Material focuses on the problems researchers face when using (Byzantine) Greek, Syriac and Arabic sources together for the reconstruction of Near Eastern history from 400-ca. 800. Volume 2: Land Use and Settlement Patterns revisits archaeological evidence from Syria, Palestine, the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq and Egypt describing a variety of land-use patterns and the development of a particular type of settlement across the Near East. Volume 3: States, Resources and Armies focuses on a comparative analysis of Byzantine, Sasanian and Muslim armies and their impact on state resources Volume 4: Elites Old and New presents a collection of critical analyses of the structure, historical development, and composition of the elite strata of late Roman, Byzantine, and early Islamic societies in the eastern Mediterranean basin. "Taken together, these studies offer clear guidance to novices and invaluable points of reference for all students of the Byzantine and Islamic worlds in this period." (Jonathan Shepard)